In All Fairness
by MelissaRose85
Summary: Romance progresses slowly unless a catalyst is added. Includes character death and some OOC as well as OCs. KagSess.


A/N: Another small one-shot. These keep coming into my mind and I can't concentrate on revising Going Under when they do that. Thanks to everyone who reviews my stories! I just do this for fun, but reviews give me a goofy smile!

And Keishou means "strong and nimble" in Japanese. Not usually used as a name, but I liked it. Mitsuko means "child of light" and is a normal Japanese name.

Disclaimer: I don't even have a job to make money to purchase Inuyasha. Damn.

"**In All Fairness"**

She had it all—the jewel had been wished on, Naraku was dead, her friends were happy, and the well had assured that she would, at some point, be returned to her family. That last promise of Midoriko's might have included a 500-year waiting period, but with her friends, she could last. Kikyou's soul was once again whole due to her wish and she had her very own, never-before-inhabited-a-body soul.

So why was she so sad watching her favorite hanyou and his blushing bride kiss?

After all, she had declared that she would become the protector of the sleeping jewel. And she really did like the live version of Kikyou. Her new "sister" was just a reserved version of herself when not inhabiting a clay, reincarnation-hating body.

Her musings halted as Kikyou laughed out loud at one of the guest's comments, hugging her hanyou even closer. Sango and Miroku, also newly married, sat near them giggling to each other and just as happily grinning.

Perhaps this weight on her chest was loneliness? Envy? Jealousy?

Kagome quickly silenced her inner thoughts, not willing to believe she could be so cruel to her friends. She was supposed to be happy that they had found true love, not wishing for them to face plant into the tempura. The jewel brightened for a moment and she heard Midoriko laugh out loud at her musings, assuring her it was indeed alright to feel so. After all, they were mikos cursed to immortally protect a damned jewel.

There was only one other person at this ceremony as miffed as she, even if he chose not to say it. The Lord of the West sat away from the group of guests, silently watching as his only living relative "married the fiend that betrayed him."

She removed herself from her overstuffed pillow to head to the tree he had propped himself up against to watch over the ceremony and his ward. Her approach was all caution still, even after almost a year of truce due to Naraku's insidious behavior. No truce could keep out the thought that underneath that glowing hunk of gorgeous youkai man was a sadistic, calculating killing machine. Well, killing machine wrapped into a nice, wonderful-to-look-at package, like the Christmas presents professionally wrapped instead of those she tried to wrap… wait, where did Christmas come into this? Oh, yeah, hot youkai.

A few steps later she found herself close enough to talk to him and lifted her head when she felt golden eyes bore into her.

Their silent conversation took seconds, but ensured a lifetime of possibility.

_Some twenty years later_

With the birth of Rin's first child came many visitors to the Western castle. One of particular caught his interest—the Shikon miko. Or mikos. He wasn't really sure what lie in that abrasive woman's mind, although the possibility of two conscious souls in that one mind could be the cause for her unusual mannerisms.

His little daughter and her wolf husband had finally managed to produce an offspring that could easily be called the most adorable hanyou of all. No thanks to his father, of course. That was all Rin.

It hurt him to think that his little daughter was growing up. Humans were so fragile and so… _short._ Already the slayer and monk were deceased due to some accident. His brother's miko was blessed due to the wish on the Shikon, but what of the other miko? He very much looked forward to seeing if time and age had tempered her spirit.

Upon arriving in Rin's quarters, he realized he was apparently wrong. Both mikos sat in his daughter's visiting room looking the same age as they had not twenty years earlier.

Damn. He hated such surprises.

He nodded to each of those visiting before turning to pick up Keishou. The baby gurgled at his recognized protector and cooed when he was sniffed, rubbed on the nose, and handed to his mother. He bowed his head once again to Rin before seating himself next to the Shikon miko. As always, conversation was carried on silently, through the slight movement and expression in their eyes, but he was satisfied.

He had his answers.

The Shikon apparently granted immortality to its chosen protector as well as Inuyasha's wench. Hn. He watched as her eyes lit up when the baby was passed to her, and she cooed and giggled and made faces at his "grandson." He watched at Keishou looked at the miko with wide, adoring brown eyes before looking at his "grandfather." He swore the child just winked at him. Could they begin to plot that young? Rin was very young when she began her scheming and plotting… maybe he needed to find out.

Maybe the years wouldn't see him become a lonely ghost haunting his castle.

Her visits to his home had increased over the years, especially with Rin's family continually increasing. She felt that she had begun to understand the somber lord more and more after each visit, each tidbit of time spent in his presence.

She now knew of his love of books, of nature, of his mother. She knew that he appreciated a fine painting more than most. She knew that Keishou, his shadow for almost forty years, was the child of his heart. She knew he loved his daughter, even though he had never called her that out loud.

That love was what had her and Kirara racing to the palace at such a late hour; when news of Rin's death had gotten to her she knew she had to leave and go see if he was alright.

Of course he wasn't.

Inuyasha and Kikyou had looked at her with worried eyes, knowing that Sesshoumaru could become dangerous in his grief. They had understood her need to be around him, and even secretly wished for a romantic relationship between the two for a while now, but had never pressed any expectations onto the burgeoning friendship.

She thanked them for that more than anything right now.

The youkai lord didn't need some romantic female sniffing around; he needed a friend that could help him in his grief. Someone he could lean on without any emotional consequences.

Her arrival went unnoticed by the guards who had become used to seeing her around the castle. She sped through the foyer and the labyrinth of halls on the second floor to hurriedly reach the large shoji doors blocking off almost the entire left half of the east wing. She slowed approaching the doors, knowing the crescent moon and inu youkai design by heart, but slowing to appreciate the detail yet again.

Or to delay the inevitable.

She knocked quietly on the wooden frame of the door before shuffling inside and seeing her friend, her secret love, sitting behind his desk, plastered. Tapped. Smashed. Drunk. His normally expressive golden eyes were red and bloodshot. He looked at her, almost whining with his eyes.

"Keishou?"

"With his father." She stepped closer and slowly drew him into a hug. The Western lord embraced her. He held on and cried for the first time in 500 years. The fist time since his mother died.

_Four years later_

The spring day was warm, but not uncomfortably so. He glanced at his miko and then over the crowd of guests joined in his garden. His eyes tinkled in amusement at Keishou's fidgeting and Inuyasha's repeated threats on his life if he didn't stay still. He one again faced his miko, his own little treasure and she smiled at him. It had taken them so long to finally get to this; he was ready and willing to marry her. Of course her threats made him agree that much more. Such fire in his miko.

The vows were said, the sake drank, and they sat in their place of honor and were congratulated by their guests. Her hand stayed hidden beneath the table on his leg and he secretly squeezed it every few minutes or so. After all, he was supposed to be a ruthless demon lord. No one could see his affection. He glanced at his three-year-old daughter Mitsuko who was currently being held by Keishou. She was the first gift from his miko; the affects of too much sake and one amorous inner youkai on the night of their mating. In a way Mitsuko _was_ evidence of his affections.

"Rin would have loved this." He nodded and understood her veiled comment. Yes, his daughter would have loved that she was the one to bring him his miko.

"In all fairness, my miko, she would have loved that it was _you,_ not the ceremony itself." And she understood.

A/N: Just a drabble. I think their romance would most likely progress slowly and then WHAM! And someone might take offense at their having a baby before wedlock, but I think Kagome would be all modern-woman and wait until she was ready. And she'd have to wear Sesshoumaru down enough to participate in a human tradition. Might take a while.


End file.
